New ways needed to develop our young people's patriotism

On Sunday we celebrated National Day. For our compatriots on the mainland, National Day is a festive event. With eight days away from work, people can spend quality time with their families. Some of them return to their hometowns to visit their parents and relatives and some go on vacations. National Day is also big business, especially for the retail and tourism sectors.

But in Hong Kong, the National Day is nothing but a single day-off - similar to the Mid-Autumn Festival. The pro-establishment camp has cocktail parties and so on, but the average Hong Kong person does not associate National Day with patriotism.

We can have "two systems" within "one country", but does it mean that we can have different ways of celebrating the birth of our nation?

The average Hong Kong person is not excited by National Day, nor is he or she excited by the idea of Hong Kong gaining independence. They are interested in things which are more mundane, for example, the NBA.

NBA China Games 2017 featuring the 2017 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves will play in Shenzhen at the Shenzhen Universiade Center on Oct 5, followed by a rematch in Shanghai at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Oct 8.

The tickets were sold out immediately; they were then available at more than double the original price. But many young Hong Kong people were still paying for them at higher prices to see the matches on the mainland.

Gone are the days when mainland people had to come to Hong Kong to see Western things. Today most things worth going to are available on the mainland. Indeed, in some cases, they are only available on the mainland - not in Hong Kong. Somewhat ironically, Hong Kong people now sometimes have to go north for things Western.

Young Hong Kong residents attending the NBA games will be glad that, unlike some of their radical peers, they are not on the mainland authority's persona non grata list.

There is plenty of food for thought from this anecdote.

First, we need the right strategy to win over the hearts and minds of Hong Kong's young people. It is proven that parade and other old-fashioned stuff are not going to work, we need to learn what young people like and then apply this knowledge. Tencent's League of Legends, originally created by Riot Games, are now hugely popular on the mainland. How about bringing some mainland gamers to Hong Kong for a tournament?

Second, the central government's strategy has always been to enrich Hong Kong by providing it with preferential treatment. Therefore, we saw the central government assigning Hong Kong a role here and another role there. The effect of this strategy, in terms of winning hearts and minds, has been underwhelming. Most Hong Kong residents just take this preferential treatment for granted; they are not at all grateful.

Some Hong Kong businessmen even use their connections with the dissidents as a bargaining tool for yet more preferential treatment. What they demand naturally benefits only narrow vested interests, instead of all of Hong Kong.

A different united front approach would be to focus on the mainland's development. If Hong Kong people realize that some good things, such as the NBA China Games, are only available on the mainland, the socialist side of the "two systems", they will have second thoughts about investing their education, professional qualifications and experience only in Hong Kong.

Instead of the old approach of injecting wealth and opportunities into Hong Kong, this new approach requires us to place the good stuff outside Hong Kong. This makes perfect sense if you think about it. Hong Kong people will be encouraged to reexamine the mainland only if they are not automatically given the best things.

A major reason behind the radicalization of Hong Kong's youth is that they are spoiled. The so-called silent majority is not really pro-mainland, they are also accomplices of the radicals. The situation is simple to explain: After major social unrest, the radicals go to jail and then to Harvard, and the silent majority get "candies" from the central government. The fact that not a single local university student has stood up to the independence advocates on campus is the clearest evidence of this hidden consensus.

It is time to break this vicious circle by implementing a new united front strategy.

(HK Edition 10/04/2017 page6)